26 questions propsed for 2018, 2020 ballots

Thursday

Aug 3, 2017 at 12:01 AMAug 3, 2017 at 11:20 AM

State House News Service

BOSTON -- With an eye on the 2018 and 2020 ballots, 17 groups filed more than two dozen initiative petitions for proposed laws and constitutional amendments in time to be considered for certification by Attorney General Maura Healey.

Wednesday's 5 p.m. petition deadline is the first step in the process to get a question on the statewide ballot. Petitioners filed 26 proposed laws that could show up on the 2018 ballot and two constitutional amendments that would appear on the 2020 ballot if successful, the attorney general's office said.

Lawmakers largely departed the State House late last week for summer recess, and August marks a time for citizens to try their hands at crafting policy.

Medford High School junior Lauren Brown, 16, filed her petition Wednesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour after studying the issue in class.

"I was in this elective at my school called 'Facing History' and each person chose a social issue to research and take action on so I did minimum wage," Brown said. "People can't live on what they're making, yet they're working harder, in my opinion than some people who make really high salaries. Some of them are working multiple jobs or are single parents and they deserve more than they're making."

Brown's mother Patricia, who came with her to submit the petition to the attorney general's office, said the process pushed her daughter out of her comfort zone.

"She learned a lot from it. Just to see how the process goes," Patricia Brown said. "We did it one way and came in June - didn't have all the information we thought we needed so we had to go back, and she stepped out of her zone to ask more people than she did originally. That was good to see."

Petitioners had to submit 10 signatures from registered voters to the attorney general's office by the Wednesday deadline. The attorney general will now decide whether each petition meets certain constitutional requirements. If the attorney general certifies a petition, it may be filed with the Secretary of State. Those decisions are expected Sept. 6, according to the attorney general's office.

Later in the fall, petitioners will seek the necessary 64,750 signatures from registered voters by Dec. 6. At that point, the proposal is sent to the Legislature. If lawmakers don't enact the proposal by the first Wednesday in May, petitioners are given the go-ahead to collect 10,792 more signatures by early June, the last step to get the question on the ballot.

It is not unusual for groups to file several versions of the same initiative petition and decide later which they will gather signatures for.

Different from proposed laws, amendments to the state constitution must pass two constitutional conventions with approval from 25 percent of the Legislature each time before they can land on the ballot.

Brown plans to join Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition that plans to gather signatures in the fall for its own petition to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Massachusetts by 2022, as well as a proposal for an income surtax on high earners and a measure for guaranteed paid family and medical leave.

Other petitions filed with the attorney general's Boston office shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline included several proposals regarding money in politics filed by Nick Bokron of Pass Mass Amendment, a proposal to lower out-of-pocket costs for holistic health care filed by Carl Tripp and proposals focused on the solar net metering cap and clean energy filed by members of the Cambridge Climate Initiative.

Andover Rep. Jim Lyons filed a petition for a constitutional amendment earlier this summer that would place the decision to fund abortions with public money in the hands of the Legislature.